NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, March
12, 2021 (Friday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
** We have heard very little from
Doreen Rossiter’s lively feeder yard in Alma.
She has had the normally expected patrons all winter; however, all that
changed on Thursday with the welcome news that 12 male RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS
[Carouge à épaulettes] arrived. What refreshing news to hear!
**More great
Albert County news reports from David Christie noting John Inman at 225 Mary's
Point Road had a flock of 30 AMERICAN ROBINS arrive to his yard on Wednesday,
March 10 along with 2 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS.
CANADA GEESE
have been gathering at the mouth of the Shepody River since March 1 and are
seen moving about with Mallard and Black ducks.
On a
Thursday morning, March 1 scout, Dave found a few robins near Harvey Dam and a
few more at the beginning of Mary's Point Road. John Inman also had a few
Common Grackles drop by his yard earlier in the week.
** Fred Richards came across a VIRGINIA
CTENUCHA MOTH [Cténuche de Virginie] caterpillar motoring across a gravel
area in Thursday’s warmth. The adult is
the dark moth with an iridescent purple blush we commonly see flying during the
day in summer, acting like a butterfly.
It is sometimes called the Smoky Moth.
It overwinters as the larval caterpillar Fred encountered and we tend to
see it in late fall and in the first warm days approaching spring.
**Thursday’s
warmth must have been a good day for overwintering caterpillar larvae as
Kimberly Bauer photographed a Woolly Bear caterpillar inching over the snow in
Riverview on Thursday. The bright snow background makes it hard to see the
orange middle belt but Photoshop brought it out.
** Gordon Rattray took a trip to the
Tantramar Marsh, Pointe-du-Chêne and Cocagne looking for
birds on Thursday. It was not a
productive day at the High Marsh Rd., but he did see 3 HORNED LARK [Alouette
hausse-col] at the covered bridge and a female RING-NECKED PHEASANT [Faisan de
Colchide] on the far side of the bridge, but he turned around at that point as the
road was getting too muddy for a car. At
Pointe-du-Chêne wharf, the
ice was at the wharf, but east of the wharf at about 50 metres out, there was
open water. Some birds were out there,
but too far for photos. A male COMMON MERGANSER [Grand
Harle] and approximately 6 GOLDENEYES [Garrot], not able to be
identified any better were there. At the
Cocagne bridge, some gulls and two BALD EAGLES [Pygargue à tête
blanche] were on the ice far out. At home,
Gordon photographed a handsome COMMON REDPOLL [Sizerin flammé] ready for
spring and some ASIAN MULTICOLORED LADY BEETLES in his sunroom. This non-native species of Lady Beetle is the
most common one we see in our homes overwintering and they emerge on warm days
like Thursday. Our native lady beetles
do not overwinter in houses. Gordon got
an excellent photo of the most common appearance of this species, showing the
“M” on the white pronotum. Most of this
species have the 19 spots, but others have only a few and some, none at
all. They can even come in a
reddish-brown colour, hence the multicolored name. They always have that “M” on the white
pronotum which does not vary.
** Brian Stone
did a bit of a walk to Mapleton Park area on Thursday to see a lone BOHEMIAN WAXWING [Jaseur
boréal] nicely showing its cinnamon undertail coverts. Also, a MUSKRAT [Rat musqué] was busy
preparing lunch. Note the handlike front
paws.
** Cynthia
McKenzie, a new Nature Moncton member, sends a few photos from her yard this
week, situated near woods at the end of Charles Lutes Rd. The bird feeder photo surely looks like an
ideal spot for birds to come to, with quick access to cover when necessary. A
male RING-NECKED
PHEASANT [Faisan de Colchide] has started coming this
week to glean droppings from the feeders, and Cynthia got a visiting WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de
Virginie] on her trail camera.
** Louise
Nichols, Elaine Gallant and Wendy Sullivan got a bit desperate while out on a
birding run. Wendy photographed a NORTHERN CARDINAL
[Cardinal rouge] imposter!
** For those
who may not get the New Brunswick Environmental Network Newsletter, I am
attaching it below so participants can register for any presentations they
wish. Some of these presentations have
been absolutely excellent.
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** As an early
heads-up, the Nature Moncton meeting next Tuesday night, March 16th,
is hosting a special presentation on “Maritime Seals: Permanent Residents and
Winter Visitors.” This is a don’t-miss
presentation, so mark it on your calendars right now. The link to join in is below, and the write-up
as it appears on the website is below, with more reminders on Monday and Tuesday.
Nature
Moncton March Meeting
March 16,
2021 7:00 PM
Presenter:
Dr. Jack Terhune
Maritime
Seals: the permanent residents and winter visitors
Harp and
Hooded seals come to the Gulf of St. Lawrence to breed in March, before they
head back to the Arctic for summer feeding.
Harbour and Grey seals live in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Bay of Fundy
year-round. Their breeding biology
emphasizes avoiding predators and there are two nursing strategies:
stay-at-home mums or working mums. For
Harbour and Grey seals, finding a safe place to rest is important and the high
tidal range in the Bay of Fundy means that they must stay awake on shore.
Dr. Jack Terhune
holds out at UNB Saint John at the moment, but his extensive research career
has taken him to do research in Denmark, ice fields east of Greenland, and
Eastern Antarctica as well as closer to home in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and
the Bay of Fundy.
Jack will
share his wealth of knowledge with us that will be welcome information for
naturalists to have in their backpacks.
Dr. Terhune
comments”, his retirement in 2012 “did not take” and he is still very active
with students and ongoing research collaborations.
A do not
miss presentation!
This presentation will be virtual with anyone anywhere
welcome to join at the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87668849964?pwd=K05mdVg1L0pQNjdJVjVLNTJkWDZoZz09
** It’s Friday and time to review what
the night sky will reveal next week, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 March 13 – 2021 March 20
As darkness settles in this Wednesday evening, and if you are able, go out and
raise a glass to the southwest and toast the constellation Orion, the mighty
sky-hunter who on this day signs his name as O’Ryan. And if you had dusted off
an Irish Rovers record during the day, perhaps you will be hunting the sky for
some animals in their signature tune written by Shel Silverstein, “The
Unicorn.”
You will have no luck finding green alligators, chimpanzees, rats and
elephants. There is no humpy-back camel, either, but there is the large and
faint Camelopardalis in the seemingly blank sky high in the northwest between
Polaris and bright Capella. The name means camel-leopard or giraffe.
Cygnus the Swan is waving part of one wing above the northern horizon, hoping to
be picked for a long necked goose. If you check Cygnus out in the morning there
is a faint constellation below its head of called Vulpecula the Fox. Nineteenth
century star maps depicted the fox with a goose in its mouth and the
constellation was labelled as Vulpecula and Anser.
Cats? Well, there is Leo the Lion in the east, tiny Leo Minor between it and
Ursa Major, and elusive Lynx above Ursa Major. Hardly the loveliest of all,
Monoceros the Unicorn is to the left of Orion, sandwiched between his bright
dog stars Sirius and Procyon. Like Camelopardalis, Lynx and Leo Minor,
Monoceros was imaginatively created within the past four centuries to fill in
blank areas and one requires a dark sky to trace its shape. A drop of the pure
might help your imagination but not your eyesight.
This Week in the Solar System
The Moon is new this Saturday and it will be seen near Mars next Friday. At
midweek Jupiter rises 75 minutes before sunrise and half an hour after Saturn.
Mercury rises 50 minutes before the Sun this weekend and by next weekend that
time shortens to 40 minutes. Mars moves a little closer to its near-twin
Aldebaran over the week, and on Wednesday perhaps their reddish cousin
Betelgeuse will turn a shade of green for O’Ryan’s Day.
With astronomy meetings and outreach activities on hold you can watch the local
Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm, and view archived shows, on YouTube
at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAEHfOWyL-kNH7dBVHK8spg
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
